A proposal to terminate a number of Russian-Ukrainian agreements submitted to the State Duma

Vladimir Putin submitted to the State Duma the proposal to terminate the Agreement between the Russian Federation and Ukraine on the Parameters of the Division of the Black Sea Fleet of May 28, 1997; the Agreement between the Russian Federation and Ukraine on the Status and Conditions of the Presence of the Russian Black Sea Fleet on the Territory of Ukraine of May 28, 1997; the Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of Ukraine on Payments Associated with the Division of the Black Sea Fleet and Its Presence on the Territory of Ukraine of May 28, 1997; and the Agreement between the Russian Federation and Ukraine on the Presence of the Russian Black Sea Fleet on the Territory of Ukraine of April 21, 2010.

March 28, 2014

16:15

The draft federal law would terminate a number of agreements governing the status and conditions of the presence of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet on Ukrainian territory: the Agreement between the Russian Federation and Ukraine on the Parameters of the Division of the Black Sea Fleet of May 28, 1997; the Agreement between the Russian Federation and Ukraine on the Status and Conditions of the Presence of the Russian Black Sea Fleet on the Territory of Ukraine of May 28, 1997; the Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of Ukraine on Payments Associated with the Division of the Black Sea Fleet and Its Presence on the Territory of Ukraine of May 28, 1997; and the Agreement between the Russian Federation and Ukraine on the Presence of the Russian Black Sea Fleet on the Territory of Ukraine of April 21, 2010.

Following the signing on March 18, 2014 of the Agreement between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Crimea on Admitting to the Russian Federation the Republic of Crimea and Establishing the New Constituent Entities within the Russian Federation, the Russian-Ukrainian agreements are no longer of substance now that the legal relations of Russia leasing facilities on Ukrainian territory for the Russian Black Sea Fleet no longer apply.

Proceeding from the above and based on articles 61 and 62 of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, the Russian Federation has the right to terminate the above-mentioned bilateral agreements.